HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University men's soccer team came back from being down 0-2 at halftime to claim a 4-3 overtime win against Wright State Tuesday night at the NKU Soccer Stadium. 
 
Freshman Kobie Qualah and senior Cian McDonald each scored two goals in 22 minutes to complete the massive comeback against the Raiders.
 
Wright State opened the game with a dominant first-half performance.  The Raiders controlled the pace of the game in the opening 45 minutes and grabbed an early goal in the 2nd minute. Eric Lynch took a corner kick for Wright State, the Norse failed to clear the ball off the line and Peguy Ngatcha directed the ball past A.J. Fleak into the goal.
 
The Raiders rode that momentum throughout the rest of the half. In the 27th minute, Joakim Carlsson intercepted the ball outside of the penalty area and passed it across the top of the box to a wide open Lynch. Lynch struck the ball and it dipped in front of Fleak, deflecting off his arm and rolling into the back of the net. Wright State would take the two goal lead into halftime.
 
"After we gave the goal up early, we actually did some decent things for 10 minutes," said NKU head coach John Basalyga. "You could see things starting to come around but giving up the second goal was devastating. What Jeff Chaney and I had put together this week in terms of the game plan was working minus the two mistakes."
 
The Norse came out in the second half looking like a new team. They were controlling the ball better in the midfield withNick McGregor, Rader Massey and Jacob Cunningham, and the offense was beginning to take shape. Momentum began to swing in the 70th minute when Campbell Morris played the ball into Qualah in the penalty area. Qualah took one touch and the ball trickled into the goal, cutting the Wright State lead to one (2-1).
 
"The ball came in from Campbell, and it was a bit of a mess but I just tried to get my toe on it," Qualah said. "It was a great ball from Campbell and I just tried to finish it off."
 
Just two minutes later, the Raiders nearly killed the momentum when Marquis Payton collected the ball from a botched clearance and drove the ball past the helpless Fleak. The Raiders stretched the lead back out to what appeared to be a comfortable 3-1 advantage.
 
Qualah would play the hero again in the 76th minute, but it was with the help of Alwin Komolong and Caleb Eastham. Komolong played a long cross into the edge of the penalty area and found Eastham. Eastham turned towards goal with the keeper closing in on him and passed the ball to an unmarked Qualah, who simply tapped the ball goalward. The Norse were back in the game, trailing 3-2.
 
"I saw a great ball from Alwin go to Caleb and at first I thought Caleb was going to shoot it so I stepped back to get in position for a rebound," said Qualah. "I saw he didn't have an angle anymore so I called for the ball and did my best to just finish it off."
 
Basalyga noted an earlier conversation with Qualah about his performance so far this season.  "Kobie was in my office this morning and I told him the things he has going for him is that he is technical and strong. He creates havoc because he is aggressive. He went out there today and did exactly what I thought he was going to do," he said. 
 
The Norse were still in all-out attack mode in the final stages of the second half as they were itching for an equalizer. In the 80th minute, a Wright State defender knocked the ball down with his hand inside the box and the Norse were awarded a penalty.  McDonald stepped up to take the spot kick and struck the ball passed goalkeeper Tyler Blackmer, who guessed wrong.
 
"We were 2-0 down and we just knew we weren't out of it," said Cian McDonald. "To get one back put us right back in the game. Kobie did real well to keep us in the game. When we got the penalty, I stepped up, knew the keeper was a big lad and just wanted to strike it away from him."
 
Regulation ended and the Norse force overtime. The Norse scored their three second half goals in the matter of ten minutes to level the contest at 3-3 after 90 minutes. 
 
"If we went into overtime, we just knew the game was ours," said McDonald. "After scoring three goals, the momentum shift was there and we knew overtime was going to be ours."
 
It only took a few moments of overtime for the Norse to find the golden goal. Cunningham played a long ball over the top, finding McDonald making a run. McDonald took two touches and blasted a long-range effort with his left foot that curled in towards goal and bounced of Blackmer's hand. The official on the far sideline raised his flag in the air, signifying that the ball had cross the goal line and that the Norse had completed a spectacular come-from-behind win in overtime.
 
"I figured we might as well get a shot off," said McDonald. "I knew the center back was fast so I knew I wouldn't beat him with pace. The keeper was fumbling a few balls during the game so I figured I'd just shoot and, lucky for me, he couldn't get to it."
 
Qualah expressed his excitement after the game.  "It's unbelievable, you can't really describe it. It's amazing to know you have a team that can keep fighting to," he said. 
 
With the win, the Norse moved to 2-2-3 on the season. They will return to action on Friday, Sept. 26 to take on Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, Michigan, at 4 p.m. Live stats will be available at nkunorse.com, and be sure to follow @NKUNorseMSOC on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for updates on the team during the rest of the 2014 season.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

ECNL Girls N. Atlantic Players to Watch

Women's NCAA Tournament Round Two Preview

Best of Men's College Soccer Week 13